Cyclist in road crash: my helmet saved my life

Chris Luff holidng the helmet that saved his life after being hit by a car when cycling up Barkham Hill - Photo: Emma Sheppard

“I WOULD have died instantly without my helmet,” said a cyclist hit by a car last week.
Chris Luff, who lives in Arborfield, sustained life-threatening injuries in the accident which took place last Wednesday.

He said he had been cycling along Barkham Road when he was hit behind by a car, forcing him off the bike and breaking his leg.

Chris Luff was taken to hospital with serious injuries – they would have been worse without his bike helmet. Picture from Chris Luff

Speaking to The Wokingham Paper, the 48-year-old, said that his helmet had been extensively damaged and police at the scene said that he would not have survived the crash if he hadn’t been wearing it.

Now, he wants to spread the word about how important bike helmets are.
The accident took place on the evening of Wednesday, May 4, causing Mr Luff serious injuries.

He said: “There was an enormous impact, I’ve never known anything like it in my life. I was separated from my bike and landed with my foot the wrong way round.
“There was searing pain in every part of my body.

“I knew I was in a bad way.”

The ambulance arrived within 10 minutes and treated Mr Luff’s cracked ankle. He also had broken teeth, heavy bruising and cracked ribs.

He is expected to be in a leg cast for nine weeks, making work very difficult.

“There’s a lot of bolts and screws in there,” he said of his leg cast. “I also have to inject myself every day with Tinzaparin which is to prevent blood clots from the trauma and open wounds.”

Although the cause of the accident is not known, it is thought that the driver of the car was doing around 40mph. She was uninjured but in a state of shock at the scene.

Police on the scene told Mr Luff that it was that it is “virtually impossible” for cyclists to survive in an accident of this nature.

The keen cyclist added that he bears no malice to the driver, adding: “She was mortified and in a bit of a state, but it was an accident and the insurance will sort it out.”

Chris Luff survives a road accident after being hit by a car when cycling up Barkham Hill – Photo: Emma Sheppard

Now Mr Luff is keen to get the message out there that bike helmets save lives.

“For me, it’s second nature to wear as much safety equipment as I can,” he said. “My head was hit very hard – it took a real whack, but it’s OK. I would have died instantly without a helmet.

“I want to make sure that people have the conversation with their children about wearing helmets.

“If a child comes off their bike and bangs their head it could change their personality and affect the whole family.

“If we can get a parent to get their child to wear a helmet, that’s a good thing.”

Chris Luff sustained heavy bruising in the accident. He does not bear any malice to the driver of the car. Picture supplied by Chris Luff

Mr Luff also wants parents to get into the habit of wearing a cycle helmet themselves.

“I’ve got on a bit of a soapbox about it. What if a Dad doesn’t wear a helmet and has an accident himself? What if the injuries happen to him?”

Local charity Headway Thames Valley works with people who have brain injuries and also want to encourage cyclists to always ride with a helmet.

Jamie Higgins, spokesperson for the charity, said: “Cycling is such a great way to keep fit and also a good mode of transport. At Headway Thames Valley, we promote safe cycling, while supporting calls to make it safer for people of all ages to get on their bikes.

“Brain injury can happen at any moment – all it takes is just one fall and you will regret it for the rest of your life.

“At Headway Thames Valley we often use the statement, ‘Use your head – use a helmet’

Another picture showing the damage to Chris Luff’s bike

“Sustaining a life changing brain injury as the result of a cycling accident is not uncommon. Indeed, several of our clients at Headway Thames Valley have been referred to the charity following such an accident. In some cases, the client has been wearing a helmet and the consequences of their accident could have been much more severe, whilst other clients haven’t been wearing helmets and perhaps wouldn’t have ever needed our support if they were.”

Hang on a moment, an adult in control of over a tonne of fast moving metal rammed a bloke on a bike from behind and you are are wittering on about polystyrene hats? Get real! Segregated space for children and adults cycling on busy roads is needed.

While we can all be grateful that Mr Luff is recovering, I have seldom read an article more misinformed or with more unjustified assumptions than this. “I would have died instantly without my helmet,” How does he know? Unless he repeats the collision in exactly the same way without a helmet and is instantly killed, this statement is at best, an unproven assumption. “Police on the scene told Mr Luff that it was that it is “virtually impossible” for cyclists to survive in an accident of this nature.” This is patently not true, and while a cyclist will almost always… Read more »

If you think the Dutch know it all cause they cycle like maniacs every day on their cyclepaths without helmets, let me tell you that a fifth (20%) of all Dutch road traffic fatalities are cyclists. Yes, they manage to do that, despite all the billion Euros worth of separate cycle paths. Not using lights at night, babbling into their phones whilst riding with two unrestrained children on the back of the “fiets” alongside a channel full of water and having a general obliviousness to danger might only add to that but it strikes me that nearly noone uses a… Read more »

Not quite sure what the purpose of your post is, but if 50% of journeys are done by bike in Holland, and if cyclists make up 20% of fatalities, that shows how safe it is, not how dangerous. The figures are reversed in this country, with cyclists making up a very small proportion of road users but a larger proportion of fatalities, so cycling is much more dangerous in this country. That said, the risks of cycling in this country are still very low, about the same as walking.

Bullshit. For example, I rode 25 km/h when I had crash with a car. The first impact was on my head (I fell on it) and the second impact was on left side. I broke my left arm and was heavily bruised, but nothing serious happend to my head. I had only a slight headache. Helmet seved my life, because there was no chance I wouldn’t have cracked my skull. Before the accident I had thought the fall like that is extremely rare and wouldn’t happen to me. Now I think differently.

Sylwia, I’m glad that you survived the collision without serious injury, but your assumption that the helmet saved my life is not supported by the scientific data.

“It’s not surprising that people who’ve been through a crash on their bike and escaped serious consequences but found helmet damage often believe strongly that the helmet has “saved their life”. However, the number of helmet users with this experience seems very much greater than the number of bare-headed cyclists who ever suffer a head injury. This suggests that the reality might not be so straightforward.”